Christ Our Rock, Christ Our Stone - Part 2

Introduction

Last week we considered the first part of Paul’s Old Testament proof of Israel’s failure, that Israel stumbled. Today we will look closely at what exactly it is they stumbled over, namely the stone of stumbling and the rock of offense. I want to begin our time by returning briefly to our examination of Christ as the cause of stumbling for the Israelites as put forth by Christ Himself in Matthew 21.

Stumbling is part of the eschatological curse against covenant breakers, as demonstrated by Moses. Therefore, Christ is the true Covenant Judge who arbitrates God’s judgement against Israel in their breach of the covenant. Israel rejected Christ as Covenant Judge. Thus, they stumble over Christ as they seek to establish themselves as the judge of their own covenant faithfulness.

Stumbling is the fate of those who oppose God and the King He has installed in Zion, as demonstrated by David. Therefore, Christ is the True King of Zion who stands alongside God the Father reigning over all creation and opposing the Father’s enemies. Israel rejected Christ as King of Zion. Thus, they stumble over Christ as they seek to establish themselves as the sovereign ruler over their lives.

Stumbling will one day cease as part of the eschatological New Exodus, as demonstrated by the anonymous Exile psalmists. Therefore, Christ is the true Deliverer who brings His people like a shepherd out of bondage. Israel rejected Christ as the true Deliverer. Thus, they stumble over Christ as they seek to deliver themselves from their bondage by their good works.

Stumbling is covenant transgression, but God will nevertheless redeem eschatological Israel from stumbling in the New Covenant, as demonstrated by Jeremiah. Therefore, Christ is the true Redeemer who pays the Passover price to free His people from bondage to sin. Israel rejected Christ as the true Redeemer. Thus, they stumble over Christ as they seek to pay the price of atonement through ritual sacrifice and self-abasing obedience.

Stumbling is iniquity, and it’s antidote is repentance, ordained in eternity by God and executed in time by true Israel, as demonstrated by Ezekiel. Therefore, Christ is the true Repentance who empowers and facilitates the turning from iniquity and toward righteousness. Thus, they stumble over Christ as they refuse to repent of their stumbling.

So having dealt in close detail from the Old Testament with the idea of stumbling, we can say that Paul has not brought up a new idea, but that what was true in his time was equally true in Jesus’ time, the time of the prophets, and even the time of Moses. This was foretold, and is now being fulfilled, all in accordance with the good plan of God to bring salvation to the Gentiles.

So now we want to consider the concept of the stone, Christ’s identity as the stone, and the implications for our theology and our lives.

The Stone

Paul in verse 33 uses Isaiah’s parallelism to equate the stone of stumbling with the rock of offense. In order to get our minds wrapped around Jesus’ identity as the stone and also as the rock, and to further understand why this is such a comfort for Gentiles and such a vexation for Israel, we need to understand what Paul is talking about when he uses stone language and rock language.

First, a stone. Stones would have been understood in Paul’s day (and really throughout Biblical times) as a small piece of rock. Sometimes these are crafted for a specific use, such as the stones used to build the temple. Other times they are discovered and then used for a specific purpose, such as the five stones David pulled from the brook for his battle with Goliath. Most often, however, stones are understood in a construction context. Stones would have been the preferred material for building in those days due to their strength, stability, and relative accessibility. Compared to other available material such as wood, stones are more suited to the middle eastern climate for your average building project. Now to understand the corner stone reference, we need to understand something about ancient near eastern structural engineering theory. Without modern machines to assist the building process, there were certain rules that needed to be followed in order to ensure both practicality and safety of the structure. It had to be able to stand for a long time in order for it be worth the time spent building it. In order for all this to happen, there had to be a corner stone, and this cornerstone had to be perfect flat and square on all sides. This stone then becomes the standard by which the rest of the stones are measured and subsequently installed. If that cornerstone is off by even one degree, the building will eventually fall and will generally be unstable. However, if you have a perfect cornerstone, you will have a perfect building. That cornerstone is absolutely critical to the stability and longevity of the building.

Now to address the cultural understanding of a rock. If a stone is something that is small and utilitarian, a rock is a geographical feature, generally immovable. If you drive up Topanga toward the 118, on the right you will see Stoney Point Park, which features what geologists have called the Chatsworth Formation. That is a rock, and is perhaps the best way ti visualize what Paul would have visualized when using the word rock.

With those definitions in mind, we now need to orient ourselves to the Biblical witness regarding stones and rocks that Paul builds upon in using this language.

The Witness of Moses

The first major usage of the word rock in the Old Testament in a theological context comes in Deuteronomy 32, in which 7 times Moses refers to Yahweh specifically as “The Rock” and even more narrowly as “The Rock of Israel.”

By using this word picture to describe God, Moses is picturing three realities about God as demonstrated in Deuteronomy 32.

God as the Rock is immovable.

God as the Rock is sure and stable foundation.

God as the Rock is a refuge.

Thus, as with the concept of stumbling, Moses sets the theological agenda and vocabulary for the use of this metaphor moving forward.

Moses also sets the stage for the stone idea as well, recording multiple instances of stones being used primarily in the context of the creation of altars and memorials centered around the worship of and reflection upon God Himself. This is seen in full form at the end of Deuteronomy when Moses instructs the nation to set up stones to memorialize the covenant between God and them.

Thus, by the time of Joshua, stones would be been imprinted in the collective consciousness of Israel as a sign or marker of worship of the one true and living God, and in many ways, as with the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments, they served as a visible reminder of God’s presence among them.

A second use of the word stone is established by Moses, and this one will also be familiar to us. The stone was the primary human tool of God’s judgment against covenant transgressions within the community. If someone broke one of the Ten Commandments, they are to be stoned with stones. This is the primary way that Moses uses the word, especially in Leviticus.

A third use is less common, but nevertheless established by Moses. This is the use of stones as weights or measures by which goods were weighed out, measured, and sold. Thus in this way the stones served as an objective standard of ethical justice and righteousness in business dealings.

So we see that Moses sets the figural language for this threefold understanding of stones in the Old Testament.

It is in these two veins of Mosaic vocabulary, both rocks and stones, that the Psalmist of Psalm 118 and Isaiah in Isaiah 8 and 28, which we have already examined, speak of the rocks and stones that they speak of.

The Witness of the Psalmist

The Psalmist invokes the cornerstone language in the vein of Moses’ altar use of the word. The author there perceives that by virtue of the Lord’s salvation of him from the hands of his enemies, he has been established as the chief cornerstone, or the perfect measure by which this building has been made.

It would seem that the author of Psalm 118 is drawing an intentional connection between Moses’ altar-stones and Solomon’s temple-stones (same word in Hebrew). The temple and the altars are both ceremonial sites erected to reflect upon the work of Yahweh and to thank Him for what He has done through the offering of sacrifices. Therefore, to describe himself as a stone in this manner is for the author of Psalm 118 to be alluding to a living, flesh and blood building erected for the purpose of offering a sacrifice of praise, of which he is the first, best, and primary part.

Moreover, for him to make this assertion in the context of the rejection of men indicates that Yahweh’s establishment of him as the cornerstone in this new worship location is in blatant opposition to their rejection. What the builders rejected, Yahweh has exalted.

The Witness of Isaiah

Isaiah’s use of these pictures are even more stark and explicit.

In Isaiah 8, we see Isaiah tightening and clarifying the words of the Psalmist.

Isaiah makes explicit what the Psalmist only implied, namely, that the cornerstone would indeed be the first piece in a new house, described here first as Yahweh himself, and secondly as a sanctuary, confirming the allusion of the Psalmist to this new building, but perhaps more importantly, confirming the divine identity of the author of Psalm 118. Simply put, Isaiah is confirming that the rejected and exalted cornerstone of Psalm 118 is God very God.

But Isaiah speaks of the stone in Moses’ second context, the context of being stoned as a punishment. Verse 14 says Yahweh will become a stone to strike. But this striking is elevated, compared to the striking of merely being stoned. To be stoned by men is one thing, but to be struck by Yahweh the Stone is to be completely decimated, completely destroyed.

And not only that, Yahweh is also a rock, but in this context He is not a rock of refuge and protection, but a rock that causes stumbling, and the result according to 8:15 is that many will stumble, fall, and be broken.

Finally, in the culmination of this pattern in the Old Testament, we hear the declaration of God that He is establishing the cornerstone of Psalm 118 in Zion, and whoever believes in that stone will not be disturbed or to use Paul’s language, disappointed. We might also say ashamed. In other words, those who believe in the stone can boast in the stone.

By way of note here Isaiah seems to understand the stone in this context not only in the altar sense of Moses but also in the just weights and measures sense, as this stone is the just and righteous measure.

So we can summarize Moses, the Psalmist, and Isaiah’s words in this way:

The Rock is Yahweh.

Stones picture three things: perfect buildings, just measurements, and covenant punishment.

In the last days, Yahweh will establish Himself as the cornerstone, serving as the true perfect building, the true just measurement, and the true covenant punishment.

Returning to the Christological Clamp

Just as Christ in Matthew 21 fulfilled the Biblical motif of stumbling, so He also fulfills the Biblical motif of the Rock and Stone, and He does so in one fell swoop.

By asserting in the context of the parable of the vineyard that He is the stone, rejected by Israel but established by Yahweh, He is asserting the following:

He is the Rock of Moses’ song.

He is the Stone of Psalm 118 and Isaiah 8 and 28. As such:

He is the first and primary piece of the perfect building. To be more specific, He is the first and primary piece of the new altar and the new temple. His rejected-and-exalted life, brought back from death, will now be the new site of true Israel’s worship.

He is the just measurement and weight. All human works of righteousness are measured by His standard of perfection.

He is the true covenantal punishment. Those who refuse to believe in Him will be punished by Him in the last day. Those who transgress the covenant will face the striking of the true stone, resulting in true death.

Conclusion

Paul’s conclusion to chapter 9 is full of the weight of the entire Old Testament as fulfilled in Christ. His lament is confirmed by this reality, a reality that was predicted throughout the Old Testament.

Rather than coming to the stone in humility, seeking refuge in Him, they pridefully trusted their own pursuit of righteousness. As a result, they stumble and fall, and more than that, they crucified the stone. Like the vine-growers they killed the one who had entrusted the covenant blessings to them. And so the vineyard will be entrusted to others, namely, the Gentiles.

Paul’s lament is valid. Israel failed. And so what the Old Testament anticipated and Christ fulfilled, Paul lived in. We live there too. A world in which Israel has largely rejected the cornerstone.

Nevertheless, Paul was thankful. We should be too. This was ordained to take place so that the Gentiles might receive the fullness of grace. As Gentiles, we ought to be thankful for the providence of God in allowing Israel to fall away for a time so that we might be brought in.

But also ought to thankful in an even greater way, as Paul will express in the weeks to come. God is not done with Israel. Just as Moses and David and Isaiah and the rest of the Old Testament saw clearly, though Israel would be exiled again for a time, God will not reject His people forever. Though they have become as though they were not His people, God will call those who were not His people, His people. Even after the stumbling, there is redemption for those who seek the Lord in Jesus Christ, and who come to Him in faith and repentance. Yahweh’s arm is not so short that He cannot save them as He promised at the first.

That’s the beauty of grace. That even the very people who crucified Christ would receive salvation in Him. That those who for 2000 years have been blinded to the truth of their own Scriptures and have rejected the Messiah so clearly displayed therein, would be once again brought back in a new Exodus, to the true promised land of the new heavens and new earth.

There is hope for us here as well. God’s arm is not so short that He cannot save our loved ones who seem so opposed right now to the truth of the gospel. God’s arm is not so short that He will not give us the victory over the sins that beset us.

The question for us comes right out of the final line: do we believe in Christ? Do we believe in the rock? Do we believe in the cornerstone? If so, we have every reason to boast in that rock, to boast in that stone. We need to be ashamed, we need to be disappointed. The rock that is laid, the foundation of Christ, will not shake and will not disappoint.

Jesus Himself said it better than I ever could:

Matthew 7:24–27 NASB95

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”

Will we be wise and believe in the rock? Will we be wise and believe in the stone? Will we be wise and build our lives on Him?

Or will we be fools and deny the rock for the sand of our own wisdom and our own desires?

When the winds and rains and floods of God’s wrath and judgment come down upon our world like they came down upon Sodom and Gomorrah, will we be protected on this rock? Or will we be swept away because we trusted ourselves rather than Him?

The time is now to look to Christ our Stone and Christ our Rock as the only foundation upon which we can build, the only refuge in which we can be protected, and the only building in which we can withstand the storms of this life.

Section Conclusion

This wraps up Romans 9, which serves first as a study in the covenant of grace, or how God dealt graciously with Abraham according to his faith. It serves secondly as a study in the divine sovereignty of God as He calls and chooses, delivers and damns. It serves thirdly as a theological explanation for the inclusion of Gentiles in the covenant of grace. It serves thirdly as a case study in how Paul uses, interprets, and applies the Old Testament, and in that way serves as our example in how to interpret Moses, the poets, and the prophets. Finally, it serves as a theological capstone to the doctrine of sola fide, removing whatever reliance on works we may have previously had prior to being encountered by this text.

To conclude then, I want to look backward and briefly summarize what we have seen up to this point, and then look forward to what we can expect in the weeks to come:

Paul is centrally proving one primary thesis in chapter 9: That God’s covenant word to Abraham has not failed, despite the failure of Israel. Essentially Paul is demonstrating from the end backward what Moses demonstrated from the beginning forward: God is the one who unilaterally fulfills His own covenant of grace with us in the same way that he did with Abraham. Abraham sleeps while God takes the covenant stipulations upon himself unilaterally by walking through the carved carcasses in Genesis 15. God’s commitment to the covenant did not waver then and it will not waver now. Yet Israel remains in unbelief. How then can God be true? Paul provides four proofs from the Old Testament:

Proof 1: Isaac was not born according to the flesh, but according to faith. He was not born because of his own capabilities or even because of the capabilities of his parents, but unilaterally as a result of the work of God. Therefore Isaac’s birth serves as a type of the new birth, accomplished on the basis of faith and not flesh.

Proof 2: Jacob was called and chosen by God before he was born, and before he had done anything good or bad. It was unilaterally the free and good pleasure of God to choose him. Therefore Jacob’s calling and choosing serve as a type of our own calling and choosing, accomplished because of God’s purpose and not our own.

Paul seeks to prove a second point here as well, namely, that there is no injustice with God. He provides two proofs for this thesis as well.

Proof 1: Moses was allowed to witness God’s glory because of God’s self-conditioned grace and mercy. Moses’ experience of God’s glory is a type for our experience of His glory, seen only in it’s fullness according to God’s grace and mercy poured out through faith.

Proof 2: Pharaoh was hardened as he hardened himself for the purpose of demonstrating God’s power and glory, demonstrating from the other side of the equation that God’s grace and mercy alone bring salvation, and that even in the midst of just judgment, God is glorified and proclaimed.

Moving to the climax of his argument, Paul answers an objection: How can God find fault with anyone if He’s irrefutably orchestrating all of human history? Paul’s response: sit down and be quiet before the God of the universe. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and therefore all are vessels of wrath prepared for destruction. However, in the midst of that, the gracious and sovereign potter takes those pots and dedicates them to honorable and glorious use.

These new honorable pots, in keeping with Paul’s first thesis, are prepared according to the word of God which declares that salvation is by faith, not flesh, and comes according to God’s choosing, before any of the pots does anything good or bad, and therefore they come from both Jewish and non-Jewish backgrounds. This is the manner in which God’s covenant word has emerged victorious: that Gentiles are brought into the fold of faith, by faith. The gospel going forth to the Gentiles as the tool in the hand of God for salvation to them is the proof that God’s Word has not failed. And Paul proves that this is not a new idea, but was embedded in the law and the prophets even as they were being written.

And so Paul summarizes saving faith: those who pursued righteousness, did not obtain it, those who did not pursue, did obtain it, because they believed on the One who did obtain it.

So there is chapter 9.

Moving forward into the coming weeks and months, we will look into Romans 10, in which Paul provides the human perspective on salvation to balance the divine perspective seen in chapter 9. I look forward to considering God’s Word with you again next week.